Fully fund MAEP if you want to save schools

If Mississippi is going to raise the achievement level of our students from its rock bottom "F" rating, our state legislature must do the right thing, for the first time since 2008, and fully fund the Mississippi Adequate Education Program (MAEP).

It does not take a genius to see the connection between Mississippi's high rate of poverty, and the poor overall achievement of our state's public school students. Here in Oxford, our schools are enriched by the largesse of our abundant local taxes. But in much of the state, derelict buildings and lack of equipment demoralize teachers and discourage students. In Oxford, we take for granted that our Friday night football games will be enlivened by a large and enthusiastic marching band; elsewhere, students who cannot afford an instrument sit in their high school band class all year without ever playing an instrument. Our students have computers and tablets for daily use; in one delta high school last year there were not enough pencils for students taking the yearly standardized assessment test.

The low achievement in many of our K-12 schools negatively impacts higher education as well. State Superintendent of Education Carey Wright reported this week that only 14 percent of high school students are taking Advanced Placement classes, and of those, only 4 percent are passing them. Additionally, community college leaders report that more than half of their students must take at least one remedial class (Clarion Ledger, January 25).

Full funding of MAEP should be a sine qua non for inclusion in every single annual state budget. Yes, of course there are other important factors in raising student achievement: higher base pay for all teachers (not merit pay for some, based on student test scores, which pressures teachers to teach to the test, and to avoid teaching challenging students), state-funded preschool, and community involvement through mentoring and tutoring. But full MAEP funding would eliminate many of the glaring disparities between schools in wealthy districts compared to those in impoverished districts.

Our local state senator, Gray Tollison, and our state representative, Brad Mayo, should use their persuasive skills and influence to convince the legislature that our children's education should be our top priority, and MAEP should be fully funded. We ordinary citizens should join them in this endeavor through letters, emails, phone calls, and persistent "harassment." How can we possibly NOT fully fund our children's education?

John F. Kennedy said, "Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education. The human mind is our fundamental resource."